


All I Want For Christmas

by Insomniac



Category: Blink-182
Genre: All I want for Christmas is you, Annoying Neighbor Matt, Antagonism, But there is a somewhat suggestive candy cane, Christmas, Festive Skippus, First Meetings, Grumpy Boy Mark, M/M, Matt as a festive diva, No Friskiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2019-02-14 11:48:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13007154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Insomniac/pseuds/Insomniac
Summary: It wasn’t that Mark didn’t like Christmas music.  It was a good way to get into the holiday mood, he got that. What he didn’t get was why his upstairs neighbor insisted on listening to onlyoneChristmas song. Just the one. Over and over. Very loudly. With increasing frequency and volume, ever since December 1st.





	All I Want For Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: This story isn't real. But you knew that, didn't you? If you happen to be or know any of the above-mentioned people, go ahead and close this tab. We'll just pretend this never happened.
> 
> Here’s one of my Festive Skippus contributions this year! Weirdly slightly inspired by [another song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt5uNQ3FXRI). For extra festiveness [here’s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKrWCNRM0w4) my fav cover of All I Want For Christmas Is You because it’s 2017 and I’m still emo.

It wasn’t that Mark didn’t like Christmas music. He liked it a lot, actually. Not every single second of the day, but it had its time and place. It was a good way to get into the holiday mood, he got that.

What he didn’t get was why his upstairs neighbor insisted on listening to only one Christmas song. Just the one. Over and over. Very loudly. With increasing frequency and volume, ever since December 1st.

It had gotten to the point where every time he heard All I Want For Christmas Is You, even in public, he immediately felt like punching a hole through the nearest wall.

When it started, it was just a few times a day. At first, he thought it was kind of funny. Mark hadn’t met his upstairs neighbor, but he’d seen him around. He seemed like a cool guy. He kept to himself and was _usually_  quiet, didn’t make a lot of noise that wasn’t par for the course of apartment living. He had a sort of punky vibe about him— lots of tattoos, all black clothes, motorcycle. Mark heard music playing from his apartment fairly often, and had always thought they’d probably get along based on music taste alone. He also had thought he was pretty cute. Not anymore though. Mark couldn’t feel anything but pure rage toward him now.

In total, it went on for almost two weeks. Two fucking weeks of All I Want For Christmas Is You blaring at all hours of the day. Early in the morning, midday, and late at night, Mark could hear the distant echoes of Mariah Carey belting it out. Often his neighbor would sing along too, and the guy's voice was actually pretty good, but that didn’t make up for the fact that he was still blasting that song all day on repeat.

The whole thing seemed so out of character that Mark wasn’t sure if maybe punk guy had moved out and he had a new, very annoying, and festive neighbor. But no, he had been watching the parking lot outside his window with intense vigilance, and whenever he heard the music stop and the front door upstairs close, he’d see the same guy walking to his car shortly after.

Sometimes when Mark wasn’t paying attention, he caught himself singing along, then immediately cursed himself once he realized. He tried to drown it out with the TV and his own music, and that worked for a while, but the song was _constant_. Even when he left his apartment, went to work and got away from it, that fucking song was in his head. He deserved some occasional silence.

About ten days in, Mark had knocked on the ceiling with a broom. It was a late night, much later than he usually heard the music. It paid off at first. The song faded to a lower volume and Mark was able to move on with his life.

The next day, it was a lot quieter, and Mark thought he was finally free.

The day after that though, his neighbor and Mariah were back to their previous volume. Mark knocked on the ceiling again, hoping it’d yield the same results. 

Instead, the music got even _louder_. He knocked again with more force, and the only response he got was a louder, absurdly clear, ‘ _I just want you here tonight, holding on to me so tight…_ ’ from the speakers upstairs.

Mark grumbled to himself, opting to put on headphones for the night and vowing to leave an angry note the next morning.

~~~

The music started sharply at 7:00am. He wondered if the guy had set it as his alarm. Why the absolute hell anyone would ever do that was beyond Mark.

So on day thirteen of the weirdest torture he had ever endured, Mark found himself drafting a note. After three attempts, he finally got the right amount of civil and grumpy that he was going for.

> Hey,
> 
> I’m glad you’re feeling the holiday spirit, but can you please feel it a little quieter? If you want to listen to one song all day, that’s your right, but I don’t really need to hear it haunting my entire life. All I’m asking is for you to turn it down to a reasonable level.
> 
> Thanks.

Satisfied with this final attempt, he folded the note and headed upstairs to tuck it in his neighbor's door.

Mark went to work, and could only hope that despite the guy rudely turning it up last night, a somewhat polite request might convince him. 

~~~

When he got home, it was quiet. Finally.

An hour went by, and he was almost a little unsettled by the silence.

Sure enough, he started to hear the faintest echo of All I Want For Christmas Is You, softly muffled through his ceiling. It wasn’t so bad this time. He could deal with it.

Then, after four minutes, he swore he could hear those jingle bells just a little bit louder. He put the TV on to block it out and tried to ignore it. He was probably just imagining it. 

Sixteen minutes later, the diva’s howling voice began to intermittently filter over the TV noise. Mark started to think his brain was just subconsciously picking it up, that maybe he was officially going crazy. 

But no, every time the song started over, it continued to get louder. Mark realized that it was a purposeful, calculated plan. He couldn’t believe his neighbor was fucking with him like this. He sighed and banged the broom against the ceiling again, which naturally only resulted in the volume being raised to a level where he could hear every single note and instrument in the song like it was playing in his own apartment.

“What the _fuck_!?” Mark yelled. 

This had to end. Clearly he wasn’t getting anywhere with knocking and notes. He wasn’t sure how much of a difference it would make to go up there and confront him, but he had to give the guy a piece of his mind.

He climbed the stairs angrily, made his way to the same door again, and knocked. He doubted the guy could even hear over his loud-ass music, so without waiting, he knocked again, as hard as he could.

Seconds later, the music’s volume dropped and the door opened. His neighbor stood casually, wearing black sweatpants and a t-shirt, smiling. A Santa hat adorned his head, and it was so stupidly cute that Mark almost forgot that he wanted to kill him. 

“Thought you were never gonna come up. I’m Matt.” He stuck his hand out for a handshake. His other hand held a sharp-ended candy cane near his mouth.

Mark ignored his request for a handshake and sidestepped the introduction. He was too pissed off for pleasantries. “Dude, listen, I swear to god I’m gonna go insane. How can you live in Mariah Carey hell all fucking hours of the day, and _why_ are you fucking with me like this?"

Matt shrugged, dropping his outstretched hand. “It’s a fucking banger. It’s like, the only good Christmas song,” he said with a facetious smirk. “Also, I think you’re cute and I kind of wanted you to come up here and yell at me, so it was a win-win."

Trying to ignore the compliment, Mark dove straight into a rant. “Oh my god, what are you, five years old? There are way better ways to get me to talk to you than annoying the fucking shit out of me. Anything else, honestly.”

Matt just listened to him quietly, smiling around the candy cane that had returned to his mouth. He looked kind of hot, and it just made Mark angrier that he was still attracted to this fucking guy. The song faintly played on inside Matt’s apartment.

"I can hear every single time you put it on repeat. There’s only so many times a person can listen to one song. I’m hearing this shit in my _dreams_. Even when I go to work, when it’s silent, when I’m listening to other music, it’s in my head _constantly_. Every time I hear that fucking song start I get this unexplainable rage. It’s been _two weeks_. You don’t have to listen to it that loud, and if you do, just wear fucking headphones. Turning it up when I’m trying to politely ask you to turn it down is just fucking rude for no reason. You live in an apartment, you can’t just blast shit all the time without thinking about other people.”

He didn’t really have anything else to say. Those were all the points he had. So he just waited for a response, Mariah singing, ‘ _I just wanna see my baby, standing right outside my door,_ ’ the only sound around them.

Matt pulled the candy cane out of his mouth with a _pop_. “What’s your name?”

“Mark,” he answered brusquely.

His neighbor nodded. “You wanna come in for a cup of coffee, Mark?”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Mark couldn’t even process the request.

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. I know it was stupid and annoying. I should’ve just come down and talked to you. I’m sorry I caused you the most festive anguish anyone has ever had.” Matt looked like he was trying his best to be sincere. "Seriously though, I know it was dumb. I'm sorry I messed with you.”

Mark was a little disarmed. Even though part of his apology was kind of half-hearted, at least he was acknowledging that it was rude. Other than this, Matt hadn't really been a bad or loud neighbor. 

“So. Coffee?” Matt’s dumb grin and raised hopeful eyebrows were annoyingly adorable paired with that ridiculous Santa hat.

Mark sighed. He wanted to be mad. This guy just purposefully drove him up the fucking wall for two weeks, bothering him like a child trying to get attention. But… he _did_ apologize, so he wasn’t a complete asshole, and this really was the only time Mark had ever had a problem with him. Plus, Matt was about a hundred times more handsome than he had initially thought, and he really wanted to see the dude's record collection, so… 

“Fine. As long as you turn that fucking song off."


End file.
